Love on the bus and other plain places

PRE-WEDDING PHOTOS don’t usually go viral on the social media unless it’s A-list stars, but the always-hungry online gawkers were willing to make an exception this week for Kitti “Kleur” Cheawongkul.

Kleur is a couple of letters down the list from “A”, but he does appear on TV as Wok, one of the mob of playboys in the long-running sitcom “Pen Tor”, which he also writes and directs. Plus, his pre-wedding photos were what you might call “unorthodox”. 

Rather than fabulous homes, palaces or the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, Kleur and his fiancee Methaya “Mint” Julapan are seen posing in the most mundane Bangkok locations. They’re in front of a 7-Eleven store, at a bus stop, on a bus, on the Skytrain, outside a pawnshop and next to a street-food hawker. 

The photographer, Sanit Nitigultanon, obviously has a sense of humour and he gleefully shared the shots on Facebook, where they proved a huge hit. But it was mostly Kleur’s idea. 

“I discussed with Mint where we should have our wedding photos taken and we agreed that we didn’t want to go to the seaside or the mountains,” he says. “We just wanted ordinary places. Every place has its own beauty, and wherever love is, that’s a beautiful place. 

“So we ended up doing ‘street photography’,” adds Sanit. They spent a full day loitering around various spots. “I was impressed,” Kleur says. “The photography team was bigger than the crew on my TV show!” 

Santi had no idea his pictures would have such an impact. Not only has he captured Kleur’s fun-filled persona perfectly, he’s ended up with a load of job offers. Pals have teased him that he’ll be doing pre-wedding shoots until the end of next year. 

In fact he’s already so busy that he’s asked Facebook friends to give him more time to answer all their questions, and yesterday apologised for declining to accept any new friends. “Right now I’m feeling like the first Krispy Kreme shop when it opened at Siam Paragon,” he joked, referring to the doughnut shop with endless queues. 

The immense appeal of the photos dawned on Kleur when he woke up on Tuesday and saw them shared all over the Internet. “Had I known this would happen, I would have put my channel’s logo on all the pictures,” he declared.

Kleur and Sanit should enjoy the ride while it lasts, but Soopsip predicts that we’ll see a lot more brides and grooms on the streets of Bangkok, maybe coming to a motorcycle-taxi stand near you. Ordinary locations inspired by Kleur and Mint’s “Love is All Around” album could catch on big-time. 

There’s one other thing about the Kleur and Mint’s photo set that’s very ordinary. Her gorgeous gown isn’t haute couture or even a high-end brand name. She had it tailor-made at a shop in the Union mall for a mere Bt2,500. That was smart, too, because she didn’t have to worry about getting it soiled while puttering around these filthy avenues. We now wait to see if she’ll wear the same dress when they have their wedding reception in January.